Benson
Henderson completed his climb to the lightweight summit halfway
across the world.

In a riveting five-round battle that showcased the best and most
endearing qualities of both men, Henderson dethroned Frankie
Edgar and captured the lightweight championship in the UFC
144 headliner on Saturday at the Saitama Super Arena in
Saitama, Japan. All three cageside judges saw it in favor of
Henderson (16-2, 4-0 UFC): 49-46, 48-47 and 49-46.

Based out of the MMA Lab in Glendale, Ariz., Henderson leaned
heavily on powerful kicks to the legs and body of the champion. To
his credit, Edgar pinned many of them between his arm and body, but
they served their purpose nonetheless.

Late in the second round, Henderson permanently altered the
complexion of the 25-minute fight, as he delivered a searing upkick
from his back to Edgar’s exposed face. The New Jersey native
crumpled where he stood and Henderson leaped into action, seeking
his trademark guillotine choke. Edgar (14-2-1, 9-2-1 UFC) avoided
further danger, but the damage was done and it was
considerable.

“I have to thank [Donald] ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone for that,” Henderson
said. “He landed that on me [at WEC 43], and I told him I was going
to land it on somebody because that hurt -- bad.”

Rounds three, four and five unfolded into a beautiful tapestry of
skill and will between two of the 155-pound division’s premier
fighters. His left eye nearly swollen shut and his nose badly
damaged by the upkick, Edgar never went away. However, Henderson
landed more strikes of consequence -- according to FightMetric
figures, he outlanded Edgar 87-68 in terms of total significant
strikes and 100-81 in terms of total overall strikes -- and
unleashed his guillotine once more in round four. Again, Edgar
freed himself. Henderson was not surprised.

“He went the right direction, and he did the right technique to
escape,” he said. “He knew what he was doing to get out of it. I
was holding on to squeeze, thinking maybe he would go the wrong
direction. I was hoping I had it, but props to him.”

Neither champion nor challenger held back in the fifth, as the
indomitable Edgar cracked Henderson repeatedly with short, straight
punches. Henderson provided his retort late in the frame with a
jumping knee and followed Edgar to the ground in the closing
seconds, working for a guillotine one last time. Alas, a finish was
not in the cards.

Henderson, who has won 14 times in 15 bouts, saw his size and
strength advantage as keys to the most significant victory of his
career.

“I wanted to use my size to my advantage,” he said. “Making weight
kind of sucks for me. I have to do like eight hard weeks and then
two hard days of cutting down the weight. I pay a big price for
that, and I want to make sure my opponents feel that pain when we
have our 25 minutes inside the Octagon.”

For the most part, Bader kept himself out of harm’s way, content to
allow Jackson (32-10, 7-4 UFC) to empty his gas tank with power
punches that grew more and more desperate as the fight deepened.
However, the former light heavyweight champion delivered one of his
trademark Pride Fighting Championships-era slams in the second
round, as he caught an ill-advised knee from Bader in the clinch,
hoisted him skyward and dumped him awkwardly on his head and
shoulder.

“It looked pretty bad, but he kind of took it out on my head a
little bit,” Bader said. “I was rocked for a bit there, but my arm
is fine.”

Bader recovered and returned to work, securing takedowns with more
and more frequency. He brought the fading Jackson to the ground
again in round three, shifted to side control before settling in
half guard and dropping elbows and punches.

“We were actually going to come in here and not really go for
takedowns at the beginning,” Bader said. “[I wanted to] throw the
jab, move, use my range and not get into a boxing battle up
close.”

Hunt Stops Kongo in First

Cheick
Kongo elected to stand and trade with 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix
winner Mark Hunt, and
he paid a serious price.

Hunt (8-7, 3-1 UFC), who entered the UFC with a sub-.500 record in
2010, ran his improbable winning streak to three fights, as he
buried the chiseled Frenchman with a series of right hands. The
37-year-old New Zealand native closed out the heavyweight showcase
2:11 into the first round, having floored the 6-foot-4 Kongo with
his notoriously heavy hands.

A stout counter left hand from Hunt earlier in the round started
Kongo’s downward spiral, and his work was done not long after. The
defeat snapped a two-fight winning streak for Kongo (17-7-2, 10-5-1
UFC), who had not been stopped via strikes in nearly eight
years.

Shields Outduels Akiyama

Jake
Shields File Photo

Shields outhustled Akiyama.

Former Strikeforce
champion Jake Shields
spoiled the welterweight debut of Yoshihiro
Akiyama, as his aggression and high-volume striking carried him
to a unanimous nod from the judges. All three cageside judges
scored it for Shields (27-6-1, 2-2 UFC) by identical 30-27
counts.

Akiyama (13-5, 1-4 UFC) landed the more profound strikes and scored
with multiple trip takedowns and judo throws, but he never kept a
high enough output with his punches and kicks to match the Cesar
Gracie protégé.

Shields solidified his win, his first since a split decision over
Martin
Kampmann in his Octagon debut back in October 2010, with a
strong third round. There, the 33-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu
black belt finally moved the fight to the floor, this despite the
fact that Akiyama resorted to grapping the fence in a desperate
effort to avoid the takedown. Doggedly attached to Akiyama’s back,
Shields fished for the rear-naked choke until the close of the
fight.

“I wasn’t surprised [he was hard to take down],” Shields said. “No
one has taken him down in the UFC, so I figured it would be a lot
of work. I was expecting a war. I knew he was that good. He was
coming off a couple of losses, but they were close fights. He’s a
complete monster.”

Boetsch Upsets Okami in Dramatic Comeback

For two rounds, Yushin Okami
did everything right. Then came round three, where Tim Boetsch
rendered all of it moot.

Boetsch (15-4, 6-3 UFC) rose from the proverbial dead to record a
dramatic third-round technical knockout on the former UFC
middleweight title contender, folding Okami with a series of
vicious uppercuts from the clinch. The finish went down 54 seconds
into round three, with Boetsch pumping his fists into his grounded
foe.

Okami (26-7, 10-4 UFC) bashed Boetsch with straight punches
throughout a one-sided first round, opening cuts beneath both of
the American’s eyes. In round two, he brought Boetsch to the mat,
threatened a kimura and eventually moved to mount, launching a
violent assault with punches from top position.

Knowing he was down on the scorecards, Boetsch let loose in the
third round. A glancing head kick sent Okami into retreat mode, and
“The Barbarian” swarmed. Pinned against the cage by the powerful
AMC Pankration representative, Okami found no refuge and wilted
under the onslaught.

“I knew nothing less than a finish would win that fight for me,”
said Boetsch, who has won seven of his last eight bouts. “Yushin
was beating me up for two rounds, but my heart was in it. I knew I
could take him out if I just stuck on it and did what I trained to
do.

“I knew how tough Yushin is,” he added. “When I saw him hurt, I
knew I had to jump all over him and couldn’t let him recover, and
that’s exactly what I did. I landed a couple more big shots and put
him away.”

Hioki Dominates, Outpoints Palaszewski

Takedowns and a masterful top game carried onetime Sengoku and
Shooto
champion Hatsu Hioki
to a lopsided unanimous decision over Bart
Palaszewski in a featured featherweight matchup. All three
judges scored it for Hioki (26-4-2, 2-0 UFC): 30-27, 29-28 and
29-28.

Hioki struck for takedowns in the first and third rounds, bringing
his otherworldly ground game into play. Close to being finished by
an armbar late in round one, Palaszewski (36-15, 1-1 UFC) dodged
one bullet after another, as Hioki ran through a series of dynamic
submission attempts, knifed through his guard repeatedly and tagged
him with ground-and-pound from side control.

Though Palaszewski remained on his feet and enjoyed a productive
second round, it was not nearly enough to even out the shellacking
he absorbed whenever the two men were on the floor. Hioki will
carry a six-fight winning streak into his next fight, perhaps a
title bout with UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo.

Pettis Head Kick Flattens Lauzon

Former
WEC lightweight champion Anthony
Pettis needed less than 90 seconds to dismiss “The Ultimate
Fighter” Season 5 semifinalist Joe Lauzon, as
he scored a spectacular knockout with a beautiful left head kick
1:21 into the first round. Lauzon (21-7, 8-4) had never before been
finished so quickly.

“I came out southpaw, and I saw him biting on the left hand,”
Pettis said. “I set [the head kick] up perfectly.”

Pettis (15-2, 2-1 UFC) peppered his foe with combinations from the
start, mainly with his hands. Then he unleashed the kick, shin
struck head and Lauzon went down. Follow-up hammerfists polished
off the defenseless East Bridgewater, Mass., native, as Pettis won
for the sixth time in seven appearances and staked his claim as a
contender at 155 pounds.

“I knew this is where I was supposed to be at,” said Pettis, a
protégé of four-time world kickboxing champion Duke Roufus. “I’m in
the UFC for a reason. I’m the best in the lightweight division, and
I’m coming for that belt.”